Audra grunted. “My older bruder Jared made this for me, but I may never get to play with it if I can’t get the string untangled.”
“Want me to try?” Rachel offered.
“Jah, sure, if you think you can.” Audra handed the yo-yo to Rachel.
As Rachel worked on untangling the string, Audra hummed and tapped her foot.
Rachel gritted her teeth as she struggled with the yo-yo string. It really was a mess!
“If you can’t get it, that’s okay,” Audra said. “I don’t need to play with the yo-yo right now.”
“I’m sure I can get it. Just give me a few more minutes.” Rachel fiddled with the string awhile longer and finally gave up. “Why don’t we do something else?” she suggested, setting the yo-yo aside. “I don’t like to play with yo-yos that much anyway.”
“Do you know how to skateboard?” Audra asked.
“Jah, sure,” Rachel said with a nod.
“Maybe you’d like to try out the new skateboard ramp Jared made.”
“You have your own skateboard ramp?”
“Actually, it belongs to both me and Brian. We take turns using it,” Audra said.
“The only place I have to skateboard is the concrete floor of our barn—when it’s not full of hay, that is,” Rachel said. “It would be wunderbaar to have a ramp of my own to skateboard on.”
Audra nodded. “Jared built the ramp at the back of the barn. Let’s go there now, shall we?”
“Okay.”
Audra led the way, and Rachel followed. They’d only gone a few steps, when Audra halted and shrieked. “Eeeeek!”
“What’s the matter?” Rachel asked. “Why are you yelling?”
“I almost ran into that!” Audra pointed to a long-legged spider inside a lacy web. “I hate spiders!”
“It’s not moving. Maybe it’s dead.” Rachel couldn’t imagine why Audra would be scared of a little old spider.
Audra shivered. “I sure hope so.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Rachel grabbed a piece of straw and poked the spider gently. The spider wiggled its legs.
“It’s definitely not dead,” Rachel said.
“Yuck!” Audra scrunched up her nose. “How could you touch that horrible thing?”
“It was easy.” Rachel shrugged. “Unless some dirty insect lands on my food, bugs don’t bother me at all.”
“I think all bugs are disgusting!” Audra ducked under the spider web. “That’s where we skateboard.” She pointed to the wooden ramp that had been set up near the back of the barn.
As Rachel stared at it, she felt envious. Why couldn’t she have a ramp like that to skate on? Maybe she would ask Pap or Henry to build one for her next birthday.
“Here’s my skateboard.” Audra picked up the wooden skateboard sitting on the floor near the ramp. “Jared made this for me, too.”
“If I’d known you had a place to skateboard, I would have brought my skateboard with me today,” Rachel said. “My brothers gave me a skateboard for my birthday last year.”
“We can take turns using mine,” Audra said.
“Really? You’d let me use your skateboard?”
“Sure, why not?” Audra handed the skateboard to Rachel. “I’ll even let you go first.”
Rachel was surprised at how nice Audra was being. Maybe the two of them could be friends after all. She smiled and took the skateboard from Audra. “Danki.”
Rachel stepped onto the skateboard and skated back and forth across the floor a few times. Then, pushing off as fast as she could, she headed for the ramp. “Whee…this is so much fun!” She skated up one side of the ramp and down the other.
“It’s my turn now,” Audra said.
“Just one more time.” Rachel got the skateboard going good, and up the ramp she went. “Watch this, Audra.” Leaning to one side, Rachel swerved back and forth, tipped the skateboard with the heel of her foot, and sailed down the other side.
She was almost to the bottom of the ramp when—floop!—the back wheel of the skateboard dropped off the edge of the ramp. Rachel’s foot slipped, too, and the skateboard flew into the air and landed on the floor with a thud.
“Ach, my skateboard—you’ve ruined it!” Audra hollered.
Rachel went weak in the knees when she saw that the skateboard had broken into two pieces. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that to happen,” she stammered.
Audra’s lower lip jutted out and she stamped her foot. “I think you did that on purpose.”
Rachel shook her head. “Why would I do that?”
“Maybe to get even with me for mixing up our lunch pails at school. Or maybe you’re still mad about the mud I splattered on your dress, or the baseball that hit you in the nose, or the nosebleed you got when I accidentally tripped you at school.” Audra’s forehead wrinkled as she squinted at Rachel. “You haven’t liked me since my first day of school!”
“I wasn’t trying to get even with you—honest.” Rachel swallowed around the lump in her throat. It was bad enough that Audra wouldn’t accept her apology, but she was also worried that she’d be in trouble with Mom for breaking Audra’s skateboard.
“I still think you broke my skateboard on purpose.” Audra’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m glad you’re not my friend, Rachel. I don’t want a friend like you!”
“Fine. If you won’t accept my apology, I’m going home!” Rachel rushed out of the barn and stomped onto the Burkholders’ porch where Mom sat visiting with Naomi. “I want to go home,” she announced.
“Naomi and I aren’t done visiting yet,” Mom said. “Why don’t you go back to the barn and play?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I accidentally broke Audra’s skateboard, and—” Rachel blinked against stinging tears and sniffed a couple of times. “I apologized to Audra, but she refuses to forgive me. She thinks I broke her skateboard on purpose.”
Before either Mom or Naomi could reply, Audra showed up, holding the two pieces of her skateboard. “Look what Rachel did!” She looked at Rachel and scowled. “I’m sure she did it on purpose because she doesn’t like me.”
“Is that true?” Mom asked, touching Rachel’s shoulder.
Rachel shook her head. “No, it’s not. Audra said I could use her skateboard. When I was skating down the ramp, one of the back wheels slipped off. Then my foot slipped and I—I lost my balance.” She paused and swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks. “The skateboard sailed out from under me, flipped into the air, and broke in two pieces when it landed on the floor.”
“Sounds like an accident to me,” Naomi said, looking at Audra.
“No, it wasn’t. Rachel broke it on purpose!” Audra jerked open the screen door and dashed into the house.
“I’ll see that Rachel saves up her money and buys Audra a new skateboard,” Mom said.
Naomi shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’m sure Jared will make Audra another skateboard.”
Mom looked back at Rachel, as though hoping she might say something, but Rachel turned away. “I’ll be out in the buggy waiting for you,” she mumbled.
“I’ll be there as soon as I finish my tea,” Mom said.
As Rachel walked away, she heard Mom say to Naomi, “I’m sorry this happened. I had hoped Audra and Rachel would become friends.”
“Jah,” Naomi replied. “Our move to Pennsylvania has been hard on Audra, and I was hoping she would make new friends right away.”
“I wish our girls could see how much they need each other and that they could be good friends if they would only try,” Mom said.
I could never be friends with someone who won’t accept my apology, Rachel thought as she hurried toward the buggy.
Chapter 12
Change of Heart
As Rachel and Mom traveled home from the Burkholders’, Rachel leaned back and closed her eyes. All she could think about was the skateboard she’d broken. It wasn’t fair that Audra had refused to acc
ept her apology, or that she’d thought Rachel had broken the skateboard on purpose.
“Are you sleeping, Rachel?” Mom asked.
Rachel’s eyes snapped open. “No, I was just thinking.”
“About Audra’s skateboard?”
“Jah.”
“Don’t you think it would be nice if you bought her a new skateboard?”
“Audra’s mamm said I didn’t have to. She said Jared would make Audra another skateboard when he found the time.”
“That’s true, but Jared’s very busy helping his daed in the buggy shop right now. It could be quite awhile before he has the time to make a skateboard for Audra,” Mom said.
Rachel frowned. “New skateboards cost a lot of money, and I only have a few quarters in my piggy bank.”
“Maybe you could do some odd jobs or paint more of your ladybug rocks to sell at Kauffman’s store.”
“Even if I did that, it would take a long time before I had enough money to buy a new skateboard.” Rachel remembered how last year she put a skateboard in layaway at Kauffman’s. She sold several painted rocks, hoping to get the skateboard out of layaway in time for her birthday, but didn’t come up with enough money in time. After Jacob and Henry gave her a homemade skateboard, she took the fancy store-bought skateboard out of layaway and used the money she made on something else.
Mom reached across the seat and patted Rachel’s hand. “You think about it, okay?”
Rachel nodded.
When they arrived home, Rachel spotted Jacob’s dog chasing her cat across the front yard. “Oh no,” she moaned. “It looks like Cuddles is in trouble again.”
Rachel jumped out of the buggy and sprinted across the yard. “Stop, Buddy!” she shouted. “Stop chasing Cuddles!”
Woof! Woof! Buddy kept running as he nipped at Cuddles’s tail.
Me-ow! Cuddles shrieked and tore off in the direction of the creek. Buddy followed, and Rachel raced after him.
Just as the water came into view, the unthinkable happened. Splat!—Rachel’s cat jumped into the creek!
Rachel gasped. “Cuddles!”
Meow! Meow! Cuddles splashed around in the water, her little head bobbing up and down.
“Hang on, Cuddles! I’m coming!” Rachel raced for the creek, but before she could put one foot in the water, Buddy leaped in, grabbed Cuddles by the scruff of the neck, and hauled her out of the water. He set the cat on the ground, and—slurp, slurp—licked her waterlogged head with his big red tongue.
Meow! Cuddles swiped her little pink tongue across Buddy’s paw and began to purr.
Rachel’s jaw dropped. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Even though Buddy and Cuddles were complete opposites, they’d actually become friends.
I wonder if there’s a way Audra and I could become friends, Rachel thought. Audra’s mother said that Audra needed a friend. The truth was Rachel needed a friend, too. But she knew in order for that to happen, she would have to do something to make Audra want to be her friend. She also knew she would never make any new friends or keep the ones she had if she didn’t learn to forgive.
“I’ve been doing the same thing to everyone else as Audra did to me today,” Rachel whispered as she bent to pick up her cat. “I’ve refused to accept anyone’s apology. I’ve even held grudges against my friends and family for everything they’ve done to hurt me—even when it was an accident.”
Rachel bowed her head and closed her eyes. Dear God, she silently prayed, I’ve been angry with everyone because Mary moved away, and I didn’t see that I could keep Mary as a friend and make new friends, too. Forgive me for not forgiving. Please show me what to do to make things better between Audra and me.
Rachel had just opened her eyes when an idea popped into her head. She knew just what she needed to do!
She picked up her cat, called Buddy to follow, and started for home, singing the little song Mom taught her about making friends: “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”
Rachel was halfway to the house when Jacob came running across the field. “Mom said Buddy was chasing Cuddles and you took off after them. Is everything all right?”
Rachel nodded. “It is now.”
“What happened?”
“Cuddles got into the creek, and I was afraid she might drown.” Rachel looked down at Jacob’s dog and patted the top of his head. “Buddy jumped in the water and rescued Cuddles. I think they’ve become friends.”
Jacob smiled and reached over to pet Cuddles behind her ear. “I’ll bet they’ve been friends the whole time, Rachel. I think Buddy only chases after Cuddles because he likes her and wants to play.”
Woof! Woof! Buddy jumped up, put his big paws on Rachel’s chest, and—slurp, slurp—kissed her right on the nose.
“Get down, Buddy!” Rachel pushed him down with her knee. “I’m glad you saved Cuddles from drowning, and it’s good that the two of you are friends, but I still don’t appreciate your sloppy kisses.”
Jacob chuckled. “I’ve told you before…Buddy licks your face because he likes you, Rachel.”
Rachel wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “Jah, well, I might like him, too, if he would stop licking me.”
Woof! Woof! Woof! Buddy looked up at Cuddles and wagged his tail.
Meow! Cuddles leaped from Rachel’s arm and took off after Buddy.
“Now that’s sure a switch. Instead of Buddy chasing Cuddles, she’s chasing after him!” Jacob laughed so hard he doubled over and held his sides.
Rachel laughed, too. She ran the rest of the way home, singing at the top of her lungs, “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold!”
When Rachel sat around the table having lunch with her family that afternoon, she was so excited she could hardly stay in her chair. She’d come up with an idea and had gotten Mom’s permission to go over to Audra’s again after lunch. Henry had agreed to drive Rachel there, since he was going that way to see his girlfriend. Then Grandpa would pick Rachel up a few hours later.
Quit rutschich [squirming], and eat your lunch, Rachel,” Mom said, pointing to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Rachel’s plate.
“I’m sorry. I’m just anxious to go.”
Henry chuckled. “You can’t go until I’m ready, and I’m not done eating yet.”
Rachel picked up her sandwich and took a big bite. By the time she’d finished eating it, Henry was done with his sandwich, too.
“I’ll be outside hitching my horse to the buggy,” he said, pushing away from the table. “Come on out when you’re ready, Rachel.”
“Before you go, I’d like to say something—to you and the rest of the family.”
“What is it, Rachel?” Mom asked.
“I—uh—” Rachel fiddled with the napkin in her lap. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting since Mary moved away. I know it wasn’t right to blame everyone for all the bad things that happened to me. I should have forgiven when someone said ‘I’m sorry.’”
Grandpa reached over and took Rachel’s hand. “I accept your apology.”
“Me, too,” said Mom, Pap, Henry, and Jacob.
Rachel was glad she had such a loving, forgiving family. She smiled at Henry.
“I’ll come outside as soon as I’ve helped Mom with the dishes.”
“I think Jacob can help me do the dishes today,” Mom said as Henry went out the door.
“What?” Jacob’s mouth dropped open. “Washing dishes is women’s work!”
“No it’s not,” said Pap as he scooped up his plate. “Before you kinner came along I used to help your mamm do the dishes almost every night.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “I kind of liked sloshing those dishes around in the soapy water. Made me feel good to see them get nice and clean.”
Mom looked over at Pap and smiled. “That’s right, you sure did.”
Pap grinned.
Jacob rolled his eyes, and Rachel snickered. Then she picked up her dishes and too
k them over to the sink. “I’m heading out to the barn to get what I need to take to Audra’s house,” she said. “Maybe by then Henry will have his horse and buggy ready to go.”
“I’ll come over to the Burkholders’ to get you in two hours,” Grandpa said.
“Danki,” Rachel called as she raced out the door.
As Rachel sat beside Henry in his buggy, she squirmed and glanced at the box sitting at her feet. After she’d put her gift to Audra in the box, she taped it shut and tied a red bow on the top so it would look like a present. She hoped Audra would accept the gift.
“You look kind of naerfich [nervous], Rachel,” Henry said. “Are you worried Audra won’t like your present?”
“A little,” she admitted.
He reached across the seat and touched her arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll like it just fine.”
Rachel remained quiet for the rest of the trip, listening to the steady clip-clop of the horse’s hooves and the whir from the engines as cars whizzed by.
Finally Henry pulled on the reins and directed the horse up the Burkholders’ driveway. He stopped the buggy when they reached the barn, and Rachel climbed down. She lifted out the box that had been sitting on the floor. “Danki for the ride, Henry.”
“You’re welcome. When you get back home, tell Mom I’ll be there in time for supper. See you later, Rachel.” Henry lifted his hand in a wave, turned the buggy around, and headed down the driveway.
Drawing in a deep breath for courage, Rachel headed for Audra’s house. When she stepped onto the porch, she set the box on the floor and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Audra’s mother answered.
“Rachel, I’m surprised to see you here again today.” Naomi looked around. “Is your mamm with you?”
Rachel shook her head. “My brother, Henry, gave me a ride, and Grandpa will pick me up in a couple hours. I came to see Audra.” She motioned to the box. “I have something I want to give her.”
Naomi opened the door and called, “Audra, someone’s here to see you.”
A few moments later, Audra peeked her head around the door. She frowned when she saw Rachel. “What’s she doing here?”
“I brought you something,” Rachel said.
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